A fast paced edgy page turner. Shorter chapters which make this easy to read and the book flows really well. Great ending and I enjoyed the twists and turns to throw the reader from one conclusion to another leaning you wonder what could possibly be happening?
I thought the characters were well written, relatable and likeable. A great psychological thriller!

The Couple Upstairs by Shalini Boland

I Loved this book!!!

From the very first chapter I knew I was going to enjoy the story.

I could not put the book down as the story kept me on the edge of my seat.

The drama and suspense are excellent. I have read many of Shalini Boland’s other books and I think they are all fantastic.

I loved all the characters and could easily relate to them.

I would like to thank Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A simple premise with a brilliant twist.

Follows the story of a young couple who move into their dream home. Whilst all the neighbours seem friendly things do seem to be going well for them. Is it just them being unlucky or is there more to it…

A brilliant easy read and sure to be a hit. I couldn’t put it down and was desperate to keep reading.

Overall the ending felt a bit rushed, but still a brilliant read.

Another of my favourite authors and another fabulous book! It’s always warming to coming back to her familiar writing and plots. I read this in a day so shows how fabulous it was!

This book had a great storyline with a tense increase of drama from the couple upstairs. Once you move in to your dream home it should always be the enjoyable, safe haven you imagine, somewhere you can relax and spend your time in comfort but unfortunately for Zac and Nina their move to their first home didn’t quite go to plan.

I loved Nina, a career woman setting up her own business with the help of an investor, Zac her boyfriend and the various neighbours who have a slight edginess to them.

I loved the storyline, with plenty of twists along the way, a couple I guessed but that didn’t spoil the book for me as it had a great plot, psycho characters and plenty of action to keep you reading.

Nina and Zac have just bought a dream home near the beach. It’s near where Nina grew up, a cute house on Mistletoe Lane. The upstairs neighbors, Chris and Vanessa, are about their age and Nina hopes to secure a friendship with the heavily pregnant Vanessa. However Vanessa is distant and quiet and Chris is aggressive and rude. Mishap after mishap has them wondering if moving to Mistletoe Lane was a mistake.

As Chris and Vanessa’s yelling and the banging sounds from their apartment intensify, and Zac and Nina’s relationship swirls the drain, Nina wonders what it is about Mistletoe Lane.

There are sixty short chapters, and I enjoyed the plot twist but could see it coming. I also thought the characters could’ve used some development. But I enjoyed the writing style and the pacing of the story- and the plot even though I guessed it.

This was another quick, fun read book from the author. The characters were pretty self contained which made prediction of outcome somewhat easy and took away some of the suspense. Despite that I found this to be an enjoyable read. This is a book which I would recommend to others.

I read this book in a day (I'm usually a slow reader) it was a real page turner and quite fast paced. I didn't see the ending coming so it was nice for it to be a little different. It was creepy and there were a few possible antagonists so it kept you guessing

This book follows a couple who just made their first step to fully committing to their relationship. They decided to buy a duplex together. This idea not only strengthens their relationship, but also allows Nina to work from home. Zac and Nina, however, quickly experiences unfortunate events while moving in. The idea of a perfect living situation slowly becomes a nightmare because of the other couple who lives upstairs. The Couple Upstairs not only introduces a phycological warfare between the couples, but also builds a terrifying and relatable scene that some of us has experienced in real life. I highly recommend this book because it captures your attention from the very beginning. Overall, I personally believe this book is one of the best thrillers I have read in 2021.

The Couple Upstairs was a good read. The style of writing is very similar to Shari Lapena. Reader's who liked books like The Woman in the Window, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Wife between Us will enjoy this book. The book is addictive and a fast read, the characters are interesting. 

What I liked? Pace, plot, build up and characters
What I didn't like? Predictable, revelation and ending was not convincing

Overall, The Couple Upstairs is a good thriller despite being predictable. I wish the reason everything that happens was fleshed out more. I would rate the book a 3.75*. 

#TheCoupleUpstairs #NetGalley

I felt like i was just taken on a wild crazy journey and i had no idea where this ride would take me but i couldnt stop, even if i wanted too. Which i didn't.

Shalini, you are a brilliant writer and brought these characters too life. A sign of a great writer.

This is one psychological thriller that will stay with me for awhile, because it had so many twists and so much suspense that i felt like i was in the story too. A definite recommend.

My thoughts and opinions are my own. I want to thank you netgalley and bookouture

I adore Boland's books so was exited when I got approved for this one! Nina and Zac move into their newly-purchased home and meet the upstairs neighbors, Vanessa and Chris. Hoping they will all get along, Nina does her best to be gracious, but something just seems to be "off" with them. Nina continues her online fashion business out of her home and even arranges a "meet and greet"to sell some of her designs--with friends, family, and Vanessa. But things go horribly wrong and it's downhill from there! Why would this couple not like her? And why does it appear her family is on their side? Great twists and turns until you have no idea what is going on--which is what I love in a thriller! Will continue to read her books!

What a fantastic storyline, I read it in 1 day it was that good. When you move into a new apartment you want to meet and get on with now new neighbours. things are gong good for Nina, she has a new booming business enterprise and her partner is amazing. Not long after moving in things don't seem to go as well as they planned and Nina soon has misgivings about moving there. Zac her partner has struck up a friendship with Chris who lives upstairs but Nina thinks he isn't as nice as he makes out to be.
You will soon get immersed into this book and will just want to keep reading like I did. I would recommend this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

I was surprised by this book in a really good way. Better than I expected and I didn’t guess the ending.

🎎 Nina and her boyfriend Zac couldn't be happier when they entered their new dream home. Nina has just set up her online business and named it Mistletoe, after their new residence. Zac is happy to be a freelance plumber. Both of them are happy with their personal and professional life until one fateful night. Chris and Vanessa, their neighbor, seem to be a weird couple to Nina, especially the way in which Vanessa is always quiet and Chris seem to be of dominating character. Though Vanessa is heavily pregnant, Chris seem to be insensitive and ignorant towards her, accompanied with occasional loud arguments. The series of misfortunes that follow the couple is something one wouldn't imagine in their wildest dreams.

🎎 The thing I liked the most about this book was the unexpected twist. The plot, without a doubt, is amazing. The narration is smooth and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters however, both the protagonist and the antagonist, could have been better. The author has very well weaved the themes of jealousy and mental health issues into the story. The book is not very lengthy. Although there are sixty chapters, they are short and move quickly. The concept of multiple POV is meticulously used to build up the thrill. Definitely recommended to everyone who loves psychological thriller with unexpected twists. The book is coming out in September 2021,so do pick it up if you like my review.

Before I start, a message to Shalini Boland: I'm sorry, but I have a bone to pick with you. Do you have any idea how close you came to breaking up my marriage the other night?

I will explain. This weekend marks 10 years since my lovely wife and I first met each other. To celebrate, she had booked a weekend in a beautiful, remote B&B on the Welsh border. Our room was delightful: large and full of character, with a comfortable king-size bed in it. It was our first night and she wanted to get ready for bed. The trouble was that I had started 'The Couple Upstairs' the previous day, and was now far enough in that it almost physically hurt to stop reading.

Thanks only to my feeling tired after a day at work and a 2-hour drive, and that I had had a few drinks, I managed to put the book down, get into bed, give my wife a cuddle and all was well. But I now realise that I came uncomfortably close to making a different decision. And this, like I said, was all Shalini's fault.

I hope that's gone some way to conveying what a page-turner this book is. It's the third of Shalini's that I have read - the others being 'The Other Daughter' and 'My Little Girl'. (I know I should read more, but she seems to be writing them faster than I can keep up.) 'The Couple Upstairs' differs from the other two in that it doesn't have an explosive hook of an opener. We begin only with a couple - Zac and Nina - who have just moved in to their first flat together. But there's something not quite right about the couple who live in the flat above theirs. Why is Chris friendly with Zac but seemingly incapable of looking Nina in the eye? Is the reason for Vanessa being seemingly close to tears, and refusing to speak more than a few words at a time entirely down to her being five months pregnant with morning sickness, or is there more to it? (Of course, the book is a psychological thriller so you know there is ...)

Most of the story is told in the first person by Nina, as her hopes for a happy life unravel over a period of just two months. Shalini has absolutely nailed the atmosphere of a relationship being put under strain as work consumes far more of your life than it really should, as well as adding just the right amounts of mystery and intrigue. We quickly learn that Zac didn't want to buy the flat as much as Nina did, and completely empathise with his becoming frustrated at the hours Nina has to work to develop her new business selling vintage clothes online. But is this the only reason why they seem to be drifting apart so quickly? Who is responsible for posting the negative reviews? And why do Nina's financial backers insist on being so heavily involved in the way her business is run? The reader is given just enough clues to want to scream at the not entirely likeable Nina as she looks in all the wrong places for the answers.

Interspersed with this story are a few 'Then' chapters, told by an unknown narrator. I have to say that I guessed who this was fairly quickly. This didn't matter though, because I had absolutely no idea why this story was being told. The 'why', when it comes, is explosive and breathtaking. It relies on a character being almost completely unhinged, and yet - and this is a very hard thing to get right - it remains absolutely believable as all of the pieces, of which there are more than you had even realised, fall into place with terrifying clarity.

A couple of very minor and frankly pathetic niggles: a few chance utterances by minor characters, presumably intended as red herrings, prove to have no relevance to the story at all and as a result, stick out more like sore thumbs than is really ideal. And the epilogue didn't quite work for me. It seemed to be trying to sew a seed of doubt somewhere where there hadn't been room left for it.

But that's it. And as a result, I'm left with a bit of a problem. I have always said, and will continue to say that my reviews are of the book and not the author, and I'm not about to change that now. This means that I must ignore my concern that after its release, Shalini could well be responsible for the failure of relationships everywhere, and award the book five stars.

My thanks to the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for an ARC of this book, which I have reviewed voluntarily and honestly. I will post my review on Goodreads now and on Amazon on publication day.

Very entertaining, page turner for sure! I didn’t see the twist coming at all. I really liked how the book flowed and the two timelines came together nicely towards the end.

Great thriller! I raced through the book to find out what was going on. Why were all these strange things happening and what was going on with the couple upstairs. I really enjoyed it and it kept me guessing until the reveal.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller. I did guess who it was early one, but enjoyed getting to the why.

Wow! What a book!
Shalini Boland has kept her crown as the queen of psychological thrillers.
I’ve read all of her books and this is definitely one of my favourites.
It’s fast paced and kept me curious. I’d definitely recommend this one.

I received a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture.

I have a copy of ‘The Girl from the Sea’ by this author which i’m desperate to read so when I saw this on NetGalley I decided to give it a go.

To sum it up, it’s a pretty average thriller. It was quite disappointing, I was hoping for more!

I guessed early on what was going on and there were no surprise twists for me.

Some of the descriptions seemed too much, like it was over detailed and unnecessary.

The whole book centred around the build up and then in the last 5% it was the event and epilogue which made the ending feel a bit rushed.